


Winter of 1929

by Mystic_Ender



Series: Living in the Past [4]
Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Alternate Universe, Human AU, M/M, a year has gone past, its christmas - Freeform, lets do this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:49:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25591570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystic_Ender/pseuds/Mystic_Ender
Summary: Christmas. The time of the year where you go spend time with the family you can't stand yet pretend to for the sake of peace, the time of the year where you keep your opinions to yourself when you want to scream them.But for our little gang, Christmas is a time to take care of family, and create new memories to hide the bad ones.After all, the world keeps turning.
Relationships: Michael Afton/Jeremy Fitzgerald
Series: Living in the Past [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1843966
Comments: 5
Kudos: 13





	Winter of 1929

New York City, Winter of 1929

The snow was falling thickly through the sky, covering anything that it could in a thick blanket of pure white that shone under the street lights like millions of crushed up diamonds. Children laughed and ran on the sidewalks, some courageous enough to roll it up to make snowmen or simply to hit their friends and siblings over their head with it, starting a snowball fight. Cars rolled down the streets slowly, many on their way to visit family for Christmas. It was a time of peace, where most people put aside their various problems and pretended to like those who annoyed them most when normally they would show it clear as day.

Fazbear Newspaper Company, in their case, usually held a party for all their employees. Many never came, choosing to spend Christmas with their own families, but Freddy always hosted one each year for those who, like him, didn’t have a family to go back to. A huge tree was put up in the middle of the writer’s room, and many people were walking from cubicle to cubicle, talking with friends and fellow employees they barely knew. 

For the second year, Baby’s Local Radio was part of this party, and thankfully, it was less awkward than the first one had been. Freddy could distinctly remember last year’s party, where the tension had been so tense you could cut it with a knife. Then someone spiked the punch with a bottle of vodka they had brought from their personal reserve and things loosened up. Granted, he hadn’t wanted this to happen, but if it had been what it took for people to loosen up, he couldn’t exactly see it in a completely negative light. This year, however, he made sure to keep a close eye on the brightly colored punch.

“I’m surprised we haven’t seen Foxy around this year,” Goldie said from beside him, sipping his cup as he looked over the smiling employees. Among them were some the blond had learned to forgive, the ones that hadn’t been involved in the event that had taken over the last year’s summer. The others… he was still working on it. He had promised it to Freddy, after all. “He usually comes for the gift exchange, at least.”

“He did plan something with something, I believe,” Freddy told him, crossing his arms. The gift exchange hadn’t been done yet, but it would be soon, and he accepted that he wouldn’t see the red-head this year around. The pile of gifts under the tree was slowly growing as more and more employees went to put their gifts under it. “A small party, though I don’t know with who.”

“Hmm. That’s good, then.” Goldie then chugged the cup he was holding before putting it behind him and walking towards the tree. He lowered the radio standing near and put his fingers to his mouth and whistled loud enough so that everyone would hear him. “We’re beginning the gift exchange! If you have a present to put under the tree, do it now!”

Employees laughed together and slowly approached, sitting around the tree like little children, waiting patiently with their drinks and various finger foods. Some brought out smaller gifts and slid them under the tree last minute before sitting down.

“Alright, here are the rules,” Goldie began, holding his fingers up to show how many there will be. He knew the rules wouldn’t even be respected in the end, if last year was any indication, though the alcohol might’ve had a role in that. “Everyone takes a gift, and then the first person on the far right exchanges theirs for someone else’s. Then the person next to them does the same until we get to the last person. After that, you can open gifts and exchange it again, do whatever you want with it.”

Freddy and Goldie rarely participated in those, preferring to watch as people picked out the bigger gifts as usual. They rarely gave each other gifts, anyway. Though they did always buy something for their friends, a small something to show their appreciation. It’s just a shame they can’t give it right away to the party and they got to wait two days after Christmas. The blond man watched in amusement as people went for the bigger gifts, as usual.

Though, surprisingly, it was Ballora that got the most interesting gift, a simple tea set with ballerina shoes drawn on the sides of the cups and music notes on the teapot. She seemed to like it a lot, enough to hunt down the person who had bought it, a middle-aged woman that became a host recently in their new show. She was named Maria, though she often told people to call her Mangle. She was sweet if a little bit shy outside of the recording rooms.

The person who got the least interesting gift in Goldie’s eyes, though, was their new receptionist who had received a pair of socks with phones sown on them. The man didn’t seem to take it badly though, only laughing and changing so that he would wear them around. Some others got various things ranging from food to small decorative items, and Goldie liked to call this successful compared to last year’s mess of a gift exchange.

“Well, now that’s done,” Freddy said behind him, and the blond man turned around to find the brown-skinned man holding a fairly small box. It was fairly thin and long, though not enough to not be able to put it into your pockets. “A present from me,”

Goldie lifted a brow and took the box, before lifting the top of it. He laughed at what lay inside it, a simple black tie with golden bear faces on it staring back at him. It was cute, and honestly, he liked it a lot. He didn’t completely understand the bears, but he liked it nonetheless. He lifted it out of the box and tied it around his neck. “Is this your way of telling me to wear a tie around the office?”

“Hmm, maybe.” Freddy shrugged, an amused smile on his face. The man’s blue eyes watched as Goldie also got a small box out of his pocket and handed it to him. Freddy weighed it in his hand, finding it a bit heavy but not too much. He lifted the top of it and found a watch inside, made of brown leather engraved with various animals. He laughed too and put it on. “And, I assume this is your way of telling me to keep track of my meetings?”

“Yes.” Goldie didn’t even deny it, grinning as Freddy’s booming laugh echoed around the room, making people’s head turn before going back to their conversations. Not many people heard Freddy’s loud laugh, often used to his more quiet and ‘normal’ laughter. This was a good Christmas, so far.

\---

“Bonnie!” The smiling face of a woman greeted him and Foxy. Naomi still looked young even in her forties, and she had the energy of a child. She had smiling lines on her face, showing a woman who lived a happy life. While some would think it didn’t make her threatening at all, Bonnie knew better. This woman could go from warm and happy to a literal nightmare. She didn’t even wait for both men to enter before she hugged them tightly, seemingly not bothered by the cold getting inside. “Foxy, too, hello sweethearts!”

“Naomi, let the poor boys inside!” Wallace called from the kitchen, laughter following. The man was already busy preparing the dinner, so it seemed. The man, compared to his wife, did look his age, with gray hair and bald spots. It didn’t make him less charismatic in any way, though. 

“Of course, of course!” The woman stepped out of the way, allowing them to get in before pushing them more deeply in and closing the door behind her. Her brown hair was styled elegantly, some loose hair framing her face in soft curls. “It just has been so long since I’ve seen you, Benedict.”

“I saw you last week, for dinner.” He pointed out, removing his coat and hanging it on one of the hooks near the door before removing his boots. He shook his hair a bit, removing the extra snow. Some of it had already melted, making some of it uncomfortably wet, though he didn’t mind too much. “Now, where are my favorite niece and nephew?”

Feet ran down the stairs, and a thirteen years old boy threw his arms around him, bringing Bonnie down a little. Despite his age, Joseph was still fairly small and forgot that fact when he hugged people by throwing himself at people and expecting them to either catch him or bend down so that they wouldn’t be thrown off.

“Uncle Bonnie!” The boy yelled, hair sticking out in every direction, just like his father. Both him and Lucy had inherited the unruly hair trait from Wallace, though had their mother’s brown hair. The boy then looked behind him and found Foxy standing there awkwardly, not quite sure what to do. “Is this your husband?”

Naomi laughed as Foxy slowly turned red. Bonnie, in his case, looked slightly awkward and looked back at Foxy and mouthed ‘sorry’. Really, the tan man should have expected it and warned the freckled man of his nephew’s bluntness.

“Nah, that’s just a good friend of mine,” Bonnie answered, turning back towards his nephew, who looked at Foxy with interest in his eyes. His mouth was about to open again as Joseph stared at the eyepatch, and Bonnie quickly cut him off before he could ask anything. “You mind bringing me to Lucy?”

Joseph quickly dragged Bonnie towards the kitchen, where Lucy was probably helping her father out. 

“I’m sorry about Joseph, sweetheart. He can be a little… blunt.” Naomi apologized and took Foxy’s coat out of his hands and put it on the hook before dragging him to the living room and making him sit on the couch. “You know, when Bonnie told me he wanted to bring a friend, I expected him to reveal you were together.”

“Ah, well… it ain’t like that,” Foxy answered, rubbing his arm uncomfortably where Naomi had taken him to drag him to the living room. The touch had burned a bit and given him a spike of anxiety, though it wasn’t as worse as it had been last year after he got the bad flashback in Bonnie’s office. He assumed Bonnie hadn’t told Naomi about his problem with touch. Which, was fine. “He offered it tha me, when I was considering skipping the company party this year.”

“Do you not have a family to go back to, darling?” Naomi asked softly, her hands reaching towards Foxy’s own. She didn’t press when he moved them so that the older woman couldn’t touch them. Her expression only took a small frown for a moment, before it went back to the worried one she had before. The red-headed man looked at her, his head cocking to the side a bit. Had she not heard the show they had done about him? Though she might have forgotten about it during the year, as did most people. The threats had died down after a couple of months and he couldn’t have been more grateful.

“Nah, not anyone I want to see,” Foxy replied, before taking the gift he had put next to him when he sat down and went to put it under the tree. Various gifts were under the tree, many dedicated to the children, and some to the parents and Bonnie. Foxy even had one or two, which surprised him. His roommate must’ve brought them the week before along with the gifts for his niece and nephew. Foxy could feel Naomi’s gaze on his back.

“Mom? Dinner is ready. You better hurry for the prayer before Dad and Joseph start eating.” A girl said from the living room’s entrance. Her brown hair was cut short but stuck out around her face in wild curls. She looked to be in her early twenties, and her dress was a bright emerald green that fitted the colors of the decorations set in the home.

“Ah, of course!” Naomi got up and shuffled over to the dining room, where light scolding could be heard from her. Lucy stood there for a bit, examining Foxy before she left, with a wave for him to come along with her so that she could show him where the dining room was. The dining room had a reasonably long wooden table covered with a fancy lace tablecloth. Various dishes sat upon it, and between Joseph and Bonnie was a free chair where Foxy went to and sat down.

He awkwardly set his hands together as the prayer was recited by Wallace before they all dug in. Naomi scolded Joseph a bit, who had so much on his plate it looked like the porcelain would crack from the huge amount of it. 

“I’m a growing boy, mom!” Joseph excused before putting more potatoes on it. He was already shoving some of the turkey in his mouth, barely chewing. It was slightly disgusting, and Foxy seriously wondered if the boy had been taught table manners at all before he remembered that not everyone had received the same treatment he had by his mother growing up.

“I hope for you that you get your growth spurt, soon, Joseph because otherwise, you’ll remain tiny all your life and you’ll fall into sewer holes,” Lucy said, eating more properly than her brother. It gained her a slap on her wrist from her mother as Joseph glared at her.

“Lucy, you’re 18. You should know better than to annoy your brother like that,” Naomi scolded lightly, before looking back at Joseph, who had potatoes smeared on his cheek. “And clean yourself up a bit, Joseph. We didn’t raise you to be a pig at the table.”

“Yeah, Lucy, you should know better,” Joseph replied with a smirk as his sister started glaring at him. Joseph then looked towards Foxy, who was looking at the scene with light confusion. He knew people didn’t get punished as he did, but this was… less screaming than he thought there would be. The boy’s face changed from mocking to interest so quickly it was almost unnerving. “Anyway, Uncle Bonnie’s husband has a cool eyepatch! How did you get it?”

“We’re not married,” Bonnie replied, sticking his fork so hard in his turkey it stuck up without him needing to hold it up. Apparently he was a bit annoyed at the assumption Joseph kept insisting, though he supposed it could have been worsed. “And don’t ask people questions they might not want to answer.”

“But--”

“I can answer,” Foxy replied, putting a hand on Bonnie’s forearm and squeezing it when he saw the tanned man was about to answer again. The freckled man took a deep breath before answering, deciding not to go with the full truth. It was Christmas, after all. “Got it after an accident. Ruined my eye.”

“Oh,” Joseph answered, frowning a bit at the lack of details. That or he was expecting an epic adventure. “Well, it makes you look like a pirate. Are you a pirate?”

“Nah, I ain’t,” Foxy replied before a sad smile appeared on his face. The boy was far from how his little brother acted, but he still thought the same thing he did and it brought a pang to his heart. He wished Marcus was still there to see how far he’d gone. “My little brother used to think I looked like a pirate, too.”

Bonnie put a hand over Foxy’s and squeezed it a bit before going back to eating, ignoring the slightly tense atmosphere around the table.

\---

Chica loved spending Christmas with her family. Granted, it was always loud since the walls were paper thin and they constantly heard the other neighbors’ celebrations, but every time she went home for Christmas, it was with a smile on her face. Carrie always came to visit with her husband and daughter, and George always looked grumpy but everyone knew he was enjoying everything.

“George, you mind helpin’ me out?” Chica said from the door, a tree over her shoulder. She didn’t look to be tiring under the weight, but she seemed stuck at the door and she really would appreciate it if her twin brother would help her get it through.

“Getting a tree last minute wasn’t a smart idea, you know,” George commented, approaching the tree and grabbing the end of it and dragging it inside to set it into the holder they had placed in a corner of the apartment. Various boxes of decorations laid around it, flaps opened and showing off the ridiculous amount of decorations they had.

“The only reason we have gotten a tree last minute, George, is because someone didn’t get it when I asked him to,” She answered, shooting a quick glare to her twin brother. His excuse had been that he was on a date, and she could understand that, but he could have gotten a tree after work. “Dad isn’t as young as he used to be, you know. He can’t do everything he did when we were kids.”

“Thank you for gettin’ the tree sweetheart,” Her dad’s voice said from behind her, and Chica turned around with a smile once the tree was carefully placed into the holder. She was slightly shorter than her father, but it didn’t stop her from giving him the type of hugs that lifted him off the ground. Like she did now. Her father always laughed and patted her on the back when she did it, and she loved it. “Now, to decorations…”

George immediately dug through boxes for the angel they put on top of the tree every year, and once he found the porcelain thing carefully wrapped in multiple papers to keep it safe, he tore the paper off and climbed on a chair to put it on top first without Chica complaining. Which, she did, a bit once she noticed. It had been her turn this year to put it on, with George doing it last year. She bickered with her brother as they put up the tinsel, little bells sewn onto it. 

They then moved onto the tiny glass balls that they had carefully painted as kids with their mother’s help. Chica’s had painted her favorite chicken on it, George had done a cupcake and Carrie’s one, much older than theirs, showed off a pumpkin. Both never knew why the pumpkin, until they saw her run them off her patch the year she grew one again with their parents’ permission. She cared for those things like they were her babies, and she was a nightmare about it. No matter they ended up into soup. If even one was out of place, it was dramatic.

“Well, I see y’all have been doing the tree last minute again this year,” Carrie said from behind them, a child in her arms and her husband’s arm around her shoulders. Carrie had been working for the phone company for a couple of months when they met at a local bar. Her friends had pushed her towards him when they found her eyeing him, and since then, it’s history. “What, not even a hello?”

Their father walked over to them with the biggest smile on his face, patting Peter on the back before taking little Jolene from Carrie’s arm and into his own. He loved his granddaughter and he would make sure she got as much attention as she could during visits, even if she was only a year old. She had Carrie’s wheat blond hair, but already they could see that she would maybe be just as strongly built as Peter was, just from her weight alone. How Carrie was able to move around for nine months with that beast in her belly, Chica had no idea. Neither was she interested to know.

“Brought anythin’ from your reserve this year, Peter?” George asked in amusement, moving to greet the dirty blond-haired man with a handshake and a strong pat on the back. Last year, Peter had brought a bottle of whiskey he kept in a cabinet in his home and George had suspected it was to buy them off since he and Carrie had married so quickly, but really, he had simply brought it to celebrate Jolene’s first Christmas in this world. This man loved his daughter with his whole heart.

“Afraid not,” Peter shook George’s hand back and patted him on the back with a huge smile on his face before he dragged him off to the kitchen. Only then did Chica’s twin notice the bag of food he was carrying. “Though, would you mind helping me with the stew? I promised Carrie I’d do it tonight.”

Chica snickered at her brother’s face, which very clearly hid a groan. How this man ever kept his job if he wanted to do nothing, it was a wonder. Though, working at a fabric shop wasn’t the hardest, so that might be it. At hearing a knock at the door, the blonde woman quickly walked over, expecting to see Miss Jones and her son, Anthony. She had been doing better during the last year, having finally found a better job that paid her enough to pay for her bills more easily with little to no overtime.

“Miss Jones! How’s--” Chica froze in the doorway, staring back at the man standing there. His built had reduced a bit since the last time she had seen him, but Mister Jones still looked like he could lift her up easily on his shoulders and walk her around the house with little to no problem at all. He seemed to have gained a scar on his cheek, too, but otherwise, he looked the same. “...Mister Jones?”

“Catherine!” The man beamed at the shorter woman before hugging her tightly. Chica was stunned, barely hugging back the huge man who she had helped brew moonshine while she searched for a job. The man quickly put her back down, both hands on her shoulders. “I hope you’ve been doing well?”

“I… Yeah, um. Yeah. Wow.” Chica blinked in surprise and rubbed her eyes. She certainly hadn’t expected to see him around, and she had expected him to be mad at her for not being caught with him, but if anything, he looked happier to see she was doing well. “I found a job at a newspaper company. I… when did they release you? Why aren’t you mad at me?”

“Yesterday,” The man replied before his smile turned sad. He seemed to bend back a bit to look at the door farther down, which was still closed tight. He sighed a bit before continuing. “Catherine, I can’t be mad at you for finding another way to take care of your family. I mean, look at me. A man not even allowed to enter his wife’s apartment since he ruined her life and reputation.”

“...Miss Jones won’t let you in?” Chica said quietly, and she frowned when Mister Jones shook his head no to confirm it. She sighed and looked behind her, finding Carrie and her dad laughing as they caught up even if they saw each other the week before. Jolene was on her grandfather’s knees, looking around as if she had no idea what was happening other than she was being moved around. “Come in. A plate less, a plate more. It doesn’t matter. You’re not spending Christmas alone, Mister Jones.”

Mister Jones beamed and thanked her profusely as he got in, and her family quickly reacted in greeting the man. They looked as surprised as she had been, though they didn’t seem to mind too much. Chica had told them the reason the man had done the Moonshine stunt, and they had seemed to understand why he had done what he did. 

Christmas this year was weird, but it was still just as warm as it always was.

\---

“You’re sure you don’t want to spend Christmas with your sister?” Jeremy asked in the breakroom, watching as the boss took their jobs over while they changed into uniforms. They had arrived not too long ago, after having exchanged presents over at their apartment. They had been offered not to work at Christmas, but Michael still had insisted. “Boss would understand, you know.”

“Yeah, well, it would mean seeing my father,” Michael replied, before giving up fighting with his tie and turning to Jeremy who simply rolled his eyes before doing it for him with a smile. It was patterned with tiny bells and it was one of his favorites even if never admitted it. He kept saying it was corny, but he wore it every time he could. “I’ll see him at New Year and it’ll be enough.”

“If you say so,” The blond shrugged and tightened the knot of the tie. His hand flattened it a bit before he looked up and dragged Michael down by tugging on the tie. He kissed him straight on the lips, not caring that their Boss could walk in at any moment. Slowly, Michael started kissing back, hand going to Jeremy’s neck to play with the tiny curl at the base of it and the taller man looked disappointed when the blond pulled away soon after. “We’ll continue this later,”

“You’re a tease, you know that, Mr. Fitzgerald?” Michael sighed in fake annoyance, hugging Jeremy tight. He buried his face into the blond curls that he had seen Jeremy try to desperately tame that morning to go to brunch with his mother. He had seen ridiculous at the moment, leaving by the front door with his hair gelled back as much as possible, but he supposed he understood trying to look cleaned up for one’s mother.

“Are you boys coming?” The boss said from the door of the breakroom, door crossed in pure amusement. He knew of their relationship, of course, but never minded. He did his best to give them the time they needed, but he didn’t pay them to stay in that room forever. He laughed as Michael pulled away from the hug and pushed past the boss and into the shop with a grumble. “Thank you for coming in, too, Jeremy. It’s appreciated.”

“Is it always this busy at Christmas?” He asked, tying his apron and stepping behind the counter, where people were waiting but the cash register to pay. He got to the station and did his job, the boss waiting for him to finish before answering.

“Hmm, no. This year only, it seems. Though I do suppose Elizabeth advertising the store helped.” The boss shrugged, before taking a tray from under the counter to go to the tables and take orders. “I could have gone without, but it’s more money I do suppose.”

Jeremy sighed as he finally figured out why Michael hadn’t wanted to see his sister. He hadn’t wanted her help and thus made sure to work instead of thanking her. 

Oh well. There were worse ways to spend Christmas.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, guys... for now this is the end. Thank you for taking the time to read this small AU. I might write more of this, I might not... but for now, this is the end.
> 
> I want to thank those who have taken the time to leave kudos, those who have taken the time to bookmark this story.
> 
> I want to take those who have taken the time to leave a comment. Especially the one commenter who always took the time to leave a little something on all my stories. You know who you are. Yes, I have noticed you added Bonnie to the name you used to leave comments. 
> 
> I want to thank those who have hung around in the shadows, too scared to interact yet who have enjoyed this story. Thank you.
> 
> For now, this is the end. Thank you again, everyone.


End file.
